Scottsdale Institute Benchmarking Program Article, Co-Sponsored by Impact Advisors, Published in Journal of Healthcare Information Management

Scottsdale Institute Benchmarking Program Article, Co-Sponsored by Impact Advisors, Published in Journal of Healthcare Information ManagementArticle finds that 100 percent of participants see significant value in program

Chicago, IL (October 28, 2015) – Impact Advisors, LLC, a leading provider of healthcare information technology services, and the Scottsdale Institute (SI), a not-for-profit membership organization of health systems advanced in IT, today announced the publication of the peer-reviewed article, “A Unique Approach to Business Analytics: The Scottsdale Institute Health IT Benchmarking Program,” in the Journal of Healthcare Information Management (JHIM). Impact Advisors co-sponsored the article and continues to partner with SI to offer critical support and insight to address the challenges facing SI member organizations.

The article highlights Scottsdale Institute’s Benchmarking Program and highlights how Scottsdale Institute members are using this data and program to compare and analyze IT spend, connect with peer health systems, and discuss IT spend at the board and senior executive level. The article also focuses on the value that members are realizing after participating in the program. The article was authored by David C. Classen M.D., M.S., CMIO at Pascal Metrics, a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah, and co-authored by Jason Fortin, Senior Advisor at Impact Advisors.

“We were happy to partner with the Scottsdale Institute on this article that highlights its highly valuable Benchmarking Program,” said Andy Smith, President and Co-Founder of Impact Advisors. “It’s a unique tool that is proving to be instrumental in helping health systems make IT spending decisions and we are proud to support it.”

The Benchmarking Program is a departure from current approaches to business analytics. It facilitates one-on-one comparisons of detailed IT cost data between similar healthcare organizations. The data is normalized to account for structural differences in IT departments, which allows for “apples-to-apples” correlations. The Benchmarking Program was originated by Spectrum Health.

“In this post EMR environment and with meaningful use incentives winding down, budgetary pressures are at an all-time high for CIOs,” said Shelli Williamson, Executive Director, Scottsdale Institute. “Our Benchmarking Program is a critical tool for CIOs leading an effort to optimize costs over the next five to 10 years. The program also enables individual, private networking and provides tools for Board-level conversations. Any health system may participate, and there is no cost.”

The article also includes results from a survey that was sent to Scottsdale Institute members in late 2014. Scottsdale Institute received a survey response from 76 percent of benchmarking analytics leads – or 29 organizations representing a total of 60 health systems, 598 inpatient facilities, and 4,790 outpatient/ambulatory facilities. A full 100 percent of survey respondents agreed with the statement “my organization finds value participating in this healthcare IT Benchmarking Program.”

“The IT cost benchmarking service has been a great service that CIOs have found significant value and benefit from,” said Brent Snyder, CIO, Adventist Health System. “In comparing costs with other entities, most other databases don’t identify what’s being supported in the IT budget. SI’s design seems to provide a nice middle ground. It segments the organizations into relevant groups so you can see which organizations are at about the same level of clinical IT development as yours, or who are using the same vendors.”

To read the article, “A Unique Approach to Business Analytics: The Scottsdale Institute Health IT Benchmarking Program,” please click here.

About Scottsdale InstituteThe Scottsdale Institute (SI) is a not-for-profit membership organization of prominent healthcare systems whose goal is to support its members on their journey to clinical integration and transformation through information technology. SI facilitates knowledge sharing among an exclusive group of senior executives as well as among their teams across the enterprise. We provide intimate and informal forums that accomplish this goal through collaboration, education & networking. For more information visitwww.scottsdaleinstitute.org.

About Impact Advisors, LLCImpact Advisors, a distinguished healthcare information technology consulting firm, improves its clients’ healthcare delivery through technology. As a trusted healthcare leader, the firm helps hospitals and health systems maximize clinical and operational performance with its Best in KLAS® strategic advisory, implementation and optimization services. Since its inception, Impact Advisors has consulted to more than 140 hospitals and health systems nationally and internationally. The firm has earned a number of industry and workplace quality awards including Best in KLAS® for seven consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty and Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work. For more information about Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com.